ABSTRACT
Located in the eastern part of Asia and on the western bank of the Pacific Ocean, China is one of the largest countries in the world. The whole country covers an area of 9.6 million square kilometers, about the same size as the United States or Canada or all of Europe (see Tables 1.1 and 1.2). The country is divided into thirty-one provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. In addition there are the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, plus the island of Taiwan.
